


Riptide Dance

by YsaX64



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Courtship, Crack Treated Seriously, Don't Like Don't Read, F/M, Mates, Mating Rituals, Mermaid Sex, Mpreg, Oviposition, Seahorses, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Weird Biology, merfolk, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:42:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26450587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YsaX64/pseuds/YsaX64
Summary: For most of the merfolk, mating is a need rather than a luxury. What was the point of a bond? To limit yourself to one mate, for once and for all, truly wasteful. Most would sneer at the very thought. "Most" being the key word. Hubert couldn't disagree more.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/Hubert von Vestra
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	Riptide Dance

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to the nest for enabling my ideas. what is fanfic but indulging your own weird ideas with increasingly niche fics.
> 
> ( gets uncomfortably close to the mic ) dont like dont read and, if you didnt already, go read the tags.

Hubert knew his territory by heart, better than he knew the plates of his tail. Every rock and every patch of seagrass, every coral he carefully maintained and swum in. It was the fourth time he checked the whole extension of his area.

The beams of sunlight peered through the surface, the low tide favoring calmer water, letting it be the wake-up call of any other mermaid or merman who wasn't like Hubert von Vestra, always waking up too early, going to sleep too late. Eyebags framing his eyes, gaunt cheeks, purple skin covering his arms and back, small things he had never been so aware of.

His jaw clenched. His thick, bony tail curled around a patch of seagrass, keeping him still against the sea currents. It was early, he knew. She would appear. His claws dug into the pale skin of his palms. He knew she would. He had no reason to doubt her.

Yet the temptation of swimming around slowly, with his hands behind his back, it was so intense it could eat him alive. He ran his webbed fingers through his hair, attempting to fix the mess it most certainly had become in his nervousness. His tail curled tighter, straining the seagrass as he kept himself still. Maybe he could find prey, given some luck. Would she see it?

A strong and powerful mate, displaying his hunting aptitude.

Hubert sneered. Who would he be fooling? Edelgard was the best hunter between the two of them by far, had been since she was born, even with him being a few years her elder. Truly, a prodigy since the start. Hubert bit his bottom lip.

Maybe she wouldn't come. He couldn't blame her. The request had been said in a joking tone – "Will you let me meet you tomorrow, before dawn?" – but it wasn't as if she could misinterpret the meaning that phrase had for him. Hubert glanced down at his pelvis, where his humanlike torso morphed with his merfolk bottom half. A thick tail with bony plates, square in shape, tampering near the tip, covered by a thin stretch of dark purple skin. A pair of fins sprouted from the bones of his pelvis, made for steering rather than impulsing. A larger fin could be seen stretching from his lower back, arrays of thin bones undulating to keep him still against the water current. 

The same kind she had, if only aesthetically different.

Hubert gulped hard. His kind wasn't among the most common type of merfolk, especially not when they favored keeping themselves alone rather than living in groups, so to find Edelgard had been a miracle by itself. To think that she would ask to meet him? Preposterous.

He shook his head, looking up, straining his eyes to catch whatever light he could. The sun wasn't up just yet, but the sky was clearing and the smaller fish who favored a sleeplike state during the night were stirring. As the world around him came to life, Hubert bit his bottom lip as his stomach churned.

He glanced behind his shoulder, past the set of spines protruding from his back. Nothing. Just the blue sprawling sea, the occasional log floating nearby and the plethora of young animals it attracted. The meadow of seagrass was vast, thick enough to hide a handful of fishes that called it home, most still dormant.

With a sigh that fluttered his gills, Hubert grunted. It was best like that. She probably had taken a joke too far. He turned his head again, glancing down. It was still early, he could easily–

"Am I late?"

His eyes snapped forward immediately. In the distance, Edelgard was swimming towards him, horizontally, with haste. Her arms helped her propel forwards with strong impulses, her white hair flowing in the water. Her violet eyes gleamed, brighter than the sun.

Without a thought, Hubert's tail uncurled from its holdfast. His dorsal fin undulated, propelling him forwards slowly. No need to rush. Even though his heart insisted otherwise.

"My lady," he says, the title slipping through his lips. "Punctual as always."

With a quick movement forwards of her tail, she came to a halt, standing upright again, gills on the side of her ribs fluttering, panting. She had a small smile curling her lips, a fang poking out of her pink lips. Her pointy ears twitched, a perfect white eyebrow raised, her expression lit up, setting him aflame too.

Her fins were similar to his own, her tail naturally a red color, but also made out of bony plates such as his. However, what made her all more stunning were the short leaflike appendages sprouting out from behind her ears, her shoulders, her lower back, all which changed color alongside her thinner skin. From time to time, flowers would find their way to the shore, floating aimlessly. Her protrusions were similar to its petals, colorful and delicate. The transition between torso and tail was seamless, her fair skin turning into a pale red.

Her huff of laughter soothed his soul.

"Good," she answered with a short nod. She scooted closer, crossing her arms. Up close, it was possible to see her short spines, protruding out of her elbows, a few from her shoulders. "I take, then, that it is already time to relax a bit more?"

Hubert smirked in response, his tail curling around the seagrass nearby, anchoring him to it and inviting her to do the same.

"Pardon my old habits. You must understand that this is still so very new."

She raised an eyebrow, but her arms relaxed. Good. All that he could ask for. He bit the inside of his cheek, out of sheer nervous habit. No need to make her nervous, not in a day like this. It was supposed to be special. He would make it special.

Unaware of his musings, Edelgard's tail – adorned with the same small protrusions, so similar to corals or seagrass – curled around a holdfast, facing him fully. Her white hair was wild and soft in the water, framing the round contours of her face.

"New, you say. And to think that I thought I was speaking to Hubert von Vestra, the very man that has been flirting with me for over a year now. This must be some big mistake."

He opened his mouth to muster a rebuttal, to say that flirting was too strong a word for it, but he soon closed it again. Instead, he had to acknowledge her sharp tongue. Her boldness was commendable, even when it made his blood run to his cheeks. He chuckled, masking how the memories of stolen moments in shallow waters rose to the surface.

"Compared to the other twenty years we've known each other, I think it is a rather short time."

She crossed her arms, claws tapping her forearm, a sign of impatience. Her tail tightened around the holdfast, pulling her closer to the ocean floor.

"Clearly long enough for us to be here now," she deadpanned, advancing with precision, cutting through his elusive remarks.

Hubert swallowed.

"Yes. Indeed." It was hard enough to form words as her violet eyes pierced through his evasiveness, let alone when she let go of the holdfast, letting the ocean push and pull her, ebbing and flowing. As her gaze studied him, she circled around him steered by her fins, prompting him to track her with his eyes, turning his head and then his body as well to follow her.

"Unless, of course," she drawled, calculated words and an even more calculated tone. "You think this is still too soon."

The conclusion almost made him laugh. Too soon! If nothing else, anyone else would consider it too late. An entire year of courtship and they had never mated. His only solace was that Edelgard, being so similar to him, understood his conundrum. How he considered that to be an irreversible decision, one that once taken could not be undone.

"My lady," he started, but trailed off, pressing his lips together. Even Hubert couldn't deny it. The thought of their official courtship – their mating – was enough to sway his hesitation. "I must remind you that there is no return past this point."

No return to who they were prior, anyway. Hubert had pledged her his loyalty already, but it was undeniable that their actions would mark something new between them. Very new indeed. Hubert gulped hard.

His words, however, seemed to have the desired effect. Edelgard's expression turned solemn, a blank façade of neutrality. He could see as she bit the inside of her cheek, blinked slowly. Her calculating eyes studied him and he recognized that gaze, the same look she had before an important meeting. Any attempts of deciphering her intentions soon proved to be futile.

Her tail's tapered tip curled around his, sending a shiver up his spine. He instinctively squeezed back, locking them together. She scooted closer, diminishing the distance between them as he stayed still, wary like prey instead of confident like the predator he was.

The sight must have been amusing, for her lips curled up slightly, her eyes glinting with some unknown emotion. As she placed her hands on his chest, claws tickling his skin, Hubert placed his hands on her slim waist, pressing his claws just enough to elicit a low hum from her.

He made a clicking sound from his jaw, an animal response, a harsh hum. Pure instinct drove him, hazing his mind. The ruby of her back morphed to a clearer, pinker shade, and Hubert didn't need to look down to know he had changed too, a clearer shade to contrast with his natural colors.

"Good," she muttered, the word slipping out of her lips. The praise was enough to send a jolt up his spine and, in response, he bit his bottom lip, ceasing his sounds.

Edelgard seemed to notice his reticence and her tail twitched around his, seemingly stuck between holding him closer and pulling back. At that, Hubert almost laughed, even though he knew he shouldn't.

"What is it?" Her voice was snapping, commanding, almost masking the glint of insecurity that shone through her violet eyes. Close as he was, Hubert would just need to lean in to kiss the little crease that formed between her thin, white eyebrows.

"I must say it again," he said, carefully choosing his words. "We both know this is so…"

He trailed off, stalling. What word could encompass all of it? Edelgard's fingers flexed on his chest and her claws prickled his skin, sending a shiver up his spine. She raised an eyebrow and Hubert took it as his cue to continue.

"This is so much," he concluded, struggling with words. Her brow furrowed, her lips parting as if about to ask a question. Always so finely attuned to her, Hubert was quick to add, "It feels unexpected."

At that, she blinked for a moment, dazed, before her pink lips curled in a half-smile, her expression softening.

"Truly? Is it a surprise to you?"

He pressed his lips together, unable to answer. Her half-smile quickly shifted into a smirk. Her tail tightened around his and tugged him down. Her lips were on his before he could say anything, his fingers tightening on her waist. The kiss didn't last, she pulled back just as quickly as she had tugged him down, her face turning as pink as her tail, leaving with a tingling warmth on his lips.

"There," she blurted out, letting go of him to drift by herself. "That was something actually surprising."

Hubert blinked twice, his arms half-extended, useless. Before he could control it, he let out a short laugh as he let go of his holdfast, drifting as well.

"How majestic of you, truly a masterful ploy to distract me from my prior objection," he mocked, following her slowly as she swam backward, her side fins steering her along the current.

"Did it work?" she answered with the same mirth, her cheeks still a pretty shade of pink.

He merely hummed in response, his lips curled up in a half-smile. With a nod, Edelgard turned around, swimming faster, daring him to accompany her. The beams of sunlight were apparent now, the sea life surrounding them waking up, passing by their lovesick courtship. It was nothing but instinct driving him as his mind softly focused on the way her white hair swirled in the water, a silky curtain over her back, mingling with her spines.

Neither of them was a particularly good swimmer – especially not as one of their kind – but it didn't matter, not when she turned around without warning, taking his hands into his and coaxing him to swim around with her. Her eyes were half-lidded, gazing at him through the haze of their courtship. No doubt he was just as dazed, nevertheless, he smiled at her, receiving a smirk back as a prize.

They twirled around, gyrating, occasionally drawing nearer, pulling back. Their tails touched twice, both times sending shivers up his spine, the intimacy of it all. Leading their dance, Edelgard gestured for him to follow as she sank down again, the tip of her tail brushing the seagrass, taking hold of it. His eyes were tracked on her face, the way the corner of her eyes wrinkled as she smirked.

He couldn't resist.

He approached her from the side, taking measured care to not hit her appendages when his tail curled around the same seagrass, straining the limits of its roots. Her arm hooked around his waist, wary of the and her claws prickled his skin, sending goosebumps up his spine.

His chuckle echoed alongside a soft clicking noise and her blush deepened, but, even still, Edelgard tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck to him. The soft skin there was a gradient between her fair, humanlike skin, and the pink tone she had brightened to – her mating colors, all exposed, just for him! – and Hubert couldn't resist. It was so much. He could smell her scent, inviting and sweet.

His eyes squinted, hesitating, trying to improvise, but instinct drove him and enthusiasm was a good enough substitute for experience. He scooted closed, nestling in the side of her body. Her gills fluttered with quick breaths. His pointy ears twitched, yet it still took him a moment to understand that the steady thumping he was hearing was the pounding of his own heart.

He pressed his lips together. His arm hooked around her shoulders as he leaned in, towards her neck, taking in her scent. Warm, sweet. He wanted to get drunk in it. The thought snapped inside his head uninvited, yet his hazy mind couldn't do anything but agree. Pheromones, he knew. Was she feeling the same? Maybe. That was what the mating dance did.

Whatever whole thoughts his mind was trying to conjure sizzled, fading as her free hand reached for his, pressing her palm against his. Perhaps her hand was smaller than his, but her claws were sharper; her strikes, faster.

"Go on," she murmured, her voice husky and low. He couldn't resist her.

Hubert buried his nose on the crook of her neck, taking in her scent, feeling heat pooling down on his lower abdomen. So much. He kissed her soft skin, taking pleasure from how she whimpered so softly, how she trembled and quivered. Pressing his lips to her pulse point, Hubert hesitated for a moment. Did he dare? His eyes darted up to the leaflike appendages, moving with the current. His mind could barely conjure a response for his own question before his instincts pushed him to action, placing a kiss on the soft skin where the bony, pink petal sprouted from behind her ear.

She inhaled sharply through her gills as her fingers tightened around his waist. At the same time, Hubert hesitated for a moment, mumbling a question in her ear. She turned around to face him, a slight tinge of pink painting her cheeks. Her nose brushed his slightly, a gentle caress.

Instead of answering with words, Edelgard gestured upwards with her chin and let go of him, swimming up slowly. He followed her. The sun shone through the water surface, casting lights on her. With her white hair wild, her bright mating colors, and her soft smile, she was ethereal. Not from his shore, not from this ocean, not from this world.

Edelgard smiled at him, stopping near the surface. Before Hubert knew it, he was smiling too, his tail level with hers, the tip tentatively reaching out. She didn't hesitate like he did, pulling them together, her fingers caressing the sharp spines of his back. Even if those claws could catch prey quicker than he could blink, they were so very careful with him, it sent a shiver up his spine.

Her eyes stared back at him, unwavering. For a moment, he just stared back, lost in the sea of her eyes, pulled by the riptide further and further until he couldn't come back, drawing him into the depths of her. The spell was broken once she chuckled, the sound soft like a bell. A gentle mockery, almost endeared.

He didn't even have time to muster a witty line before her fins undulated to push her up enough to press his lips against his. The kiss started chastely, merely the pressing of lips against lips, his nose brushing against her. His hands found its way to her back, pulling her closer until they were chest to chest, so near that it must have been impossible to tell them apart. His tongue darted out to stroke a short line on her bottom lip, deepening the kiss when she parted her lips.

Her hand found the short hair at the back of his head, eliciting from him a groan. In response, he tightened his grip on her. His mate. The thought snapped uninvited inside his mind, but it just made him more enthusiastic, eager for her.

When they parted, his gills were fluttery with breath, panting, still dazed. A low laugh bubbled from his chest. It began, then. Not a joke, not a misunderstanding. His mate. And he was her mate as well, this wonderful, wonderful woman before him, lips reddened, eyes full of quiet playfulness.

"I believe," she said, cutting herself off with a huff of laughter before continuing, "That I did manage to distract you."

He blinked. It took him a moment to understand what she meant.

"Ah. How cunning of you. You are second to none, Edelgard."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," she shot back, arching an elegant eyebrow.

He merely chuckled back, his arm sliding away, his tail relaxing as it uncurled from hers. His fins undulated, but only to keep him still.

"So," he murmured, his stare still vacant. "I take that it is time for you to take your leave."

Mating was abrupt. A moment of passion, only to be shared once a day, culminating when their bodies called for it. Not right there. Traditionally, it was time for her to leave. However, Edelgard never had been the traditional sort. Instead, she folded her hands behind her back, her expression a solemn mask, hiding her emotions.

He already knew her well enough to see underneath the façade, but it still was enough to flare a tinge of insecurity inside his heart.

"Hubert," she drawled, choosing her words, her bright mating colors fading to a deeper tone of red. "I take that you aren't hesitating anymore?"

He tilted his head to the side. What? Was this what she interpreted of his behavior?

"No," he snapped as soon as he regained his composure. Still, the words teetered on the tip of his tongue. He had to gather his wits before continuing, "I fear you misinterpret me. I never hesitated, not truly."

Hubert ended there, yet he felt something unsaid, stuck in his throat, choking him. Despite his best efforts, the lump stayed, the tension settling in his jaw instead. When her gills fluttered with breath, her shoulders drawing up ever so slightly, Hubert could almost hear her asking what was, then, that prompted his reticence. Regardless if that was the question she truly wanted to make, her gills trembled again, her shoulders slouched for as she averted her gaze, eyebrows drawing together. It lasted no less than a moment before her eyes darted back to his, analyzing his every movement. His muscles filled with tension, but one small smile made everything dissolve in the water.

"Very well, then. Tomorrow, at the same place?"

Warmth spread through his chest. Truly, she was truly special.

"Of course." Despite the surrounding water, it felt like he lacked oxygen, like he couldn't breath lest he continued. "If you would grant me the honor."

**Author's Note:**

> i know way too much about seahorse anatomy.  
> Kudos/Comments/Feedback are always appreciated!!!


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